Brown and Blonde
by Anime-Ronin
Summary: After Cell, Gohan goes to school, but his with new best friend there is more to her than there appears. Rating may go up. FINISHED!
1. Chapter 1

Brown and Blonde

Author: Anime Ronin

Rating: … PG-13 to start with, but may go up later.

Summary: After Cell, Gohan goes to school, but his new best friend there is more than she appears.

Disclaimer: I STILL own nothing.

AN: No, not a sequel to my 'Masks We Wear', as I flatly refuse to watch the series after the Saiyaman saga (gods, I swear that the Ginyu Force are all doing barrel rolls in HFIL over THAT). Just doing this to get away from my Buffy work, mostly, in hopes of getting my muse off of her backside, so here's hoping.

1?

Gohan flexed his healed arm, the one that had been broken by Cell, slowly, feeling the stiffness and pain going away slowly as he did – Cell had been dead for less than a month now, his father had decided to stay dead (a source of contention with him, so many, his mother included, did not bring it up), his mother was pregnant again from his father and the World Martial Arts Tournament was going to be starting in two months. Needless to say, a lot had happened in the past few weeks, but none so more than the bomb that his mother had dropped on him – he was going to start going to school in a week!

He'd been against the idea from the beginning, given that his intelligence and schooling was already in the area of University students, but his mother had pulled the great equalizer out and had ended the discussion – her frying pan; both Piccolo and Vegeta had called him a wuss at that, but both were STILL sporting bruises and lumps from their own run-ins with said piece of cookery from when they asked or demanded that he train with them. He did, though, train with them when his mother wasn't looking, but mostly to keep them from pouting – Piccolo was much more adept at hiding his pouting than Vegeta, and both had been teaching him some very useful things over the past few weeks.

"Gohan?" He looked up, well, down as he was floating about five feet in the air, at his mother arched an eyebrow as she smiled and held out a pile of clothes, "I have your school clothes ready, honey."

He looked at the black vest, orange pants and long-sleeved white shirt for a moment and sighed, thankful that neither Piccolo, Krillin nor Vegeta were there right now to laugh themselves silly at his clothes, "Mom … what did Grandpa tell you about digging through his closet?"

She gave him an affronted look, "What? What makes you think that …" She stopped at he pointed to the picture that was hanging on the wall – it had him at about 3 years old, his mother and … father … and his grandfather, who was wearing that same outfit, though vastly larger. Chi-chi looked back at him and blushed as he arched his eyebrow at her some more, "Well, this will just go to show that good style is never out of style."

He shook his head and floated over to his closet, opening it with a foot to reveal clothing other than his fighting clothes, "I've got it taken care of, mom."

She blinked at him a few times and then screwed her face up into a scowl – this wasn't going to be fun for his ears, "Where did you get these, young man? Did you steal from a store? Oh, no, you did! WAH! MY BABY'S A THIEF!"

Gohan looked at his mother as she proceeded to bawl for a moment and shrugged, "No, I made them like this." He concentrated and own clothes shifted from a red and blue dress to a green and brown one, the same size and same cut, only brand new, "See?"

Chi-chi stopped crying for a moment and looked at her son with a shocked look before something registered to her, "Gohan, don't ever do that again." She turned and walked out of the room, not wanting her son to see that he had forgotten her bra and underwear when he transformed her clothes.

Gohan looked as his mom walked out of the room and then just shrugged, thinking he had gotten out of the ass-chewing / guilt trip session easily before he floating back over to his bed and went back into a meditative trance – school … what a joke.

(Next Day – Capsule Corporation)

"Tell me again WHY I am being subjected to this … torture, onna? I could do better by training than to be babysitting the spawn of Kakarot."

Bulma looked up at her husband and scowled, "You're doing this because I told you, Vegeta, and more to the point you're doing this to make sure that he actually goes to school."

Vegeta, dressed in black slacks and a white business shirt, snorted as he allowed a robot to put his tie on, "Gohan does not need school, Onna – he is a Saiyan Warrior!"

Bulma finished packing her husband's lunch even as Trunks watched them both from his high chair, applesauce all over his face, "He's also 13 years old, Vegeta, and has no friends his age besides Dende and that Lime girl. Chi-chi wants grandchildren and she won't get them if he doesn't find a good woman to settle down with."

Vegeta just growled, "Damned harpy woman. He should be training, not learning with some pathetic weaklings that wouldn't know battle if it came up and bit them in the bracghry!" Even as he growled, though, Vegeta went over in his mind a lesson that his father once taught him – there is nothing that a Saiyan Warrior can learn that is useless. If this school would help Gohan … so be it. His lips then twisted into a smirk, but this didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun in the process.

BONG!

Bulma, holding an exact replica of Chi-chi's 'Saiyan Stopper' frying pan, dent in the middle and all, was glowered at by her husband as she shook the pan at him, "And no torturing Gohan on his first day! Make sure that he shows up and, if everything goes well, we'll see about letting you both enter the WMAT."

Vegeta rubbed the lump on his skull and arched an eyebrow, "'Let' us? Onna, that mentally deficient human 'Hercule' has the world believing he is the best martial artist on this mud ball – Kakarot's spawn and I intend to show him that while he may be a martial artist, we are WARRIORS, and he will fall before us."

BONG!

"You're late for work! Go!" Vegeta was moving, lunch capsule and briefcase in hand, before he realized that he was moving at his wife's barked order – sometimes, he really wished he had destroyed this planet long ago…

AN: Okay, this is mostly a departure from my other stories, in hopes of waking my muse up again – I don't know if or when I'll be returning to this story, but if I get reviews, I'll consider working on this more. What do you think, aside from it being short? No flames, please.


	2. Chapter 2

2 of ?

AN: Yes, Serry2, that was a bad word in Saiyan, not an oopsie on my part, and no, this is not a Gohan and Videl story – I personally think he can do MUCH better than her (certainly can't do much worse).

AN2: Oh, and for future reference, the series has pretty much ended here – no Buu, Saiyaman, any of that.

(Orange Star Junior High)

"So, I see Bulma somehow managed to get you into this too, Vegeta?" Kakarot's brat was smirking at him, looking comfortable in the loose black button-up over-shirt shirt and blue jeans he was wearing, and for an instant he wanted to blast the brat into HFIL, but then he'd be alone against both the Harpy and the Onna … so the brat had to stay.

"That is Mr. Briefs to you, Spawn of Kakarot." Gohan arched his eyebrow at the Prince ('of two other people') as he walked away and shrugged even as he made his way to the front office, backpack slung over one shoulder. Kids milled around the halls, all of their battle powers being so low they barely registered in his mind, with one or two exceptions – one was a girl dressed in bike pants and a long white shirt, her black hair in pig-tails and her blue eyes showing supreme confidence in her abilities, something that bordered on arrogance. Another was the guy next to her, his blonde hair own to his shoulders and his arms exposed as he chatted with her, obviously trying to impress her even as his eyes wandered around to anything female.

The one that caught his eye, though, was the slim blonde that was just next to them, her eyes a mystery even as she adjusted her cropped top – her features were fine, if slightly angular, her hair cut short on the sides and left long on top, and her eyes as blue as the skies and filled with both an innocent nature and an intelligence that was carefully hidden. He noticed that her muscle tone was refined, more toned than bulky, like a swimmer's or a dancer's, but with the way that she looked around, she obviously had some contact and training with the martial arts, which is why he approached her and asked, "Excuse me, but where is the office? I'm new here."

She smiled brightly at him, the innocent nature in her eyes coming forward even as the two next to her glowered slightly, "Hi, it's down there, two doors on the left." She pointed and he nodded, "I'm Erasa, this is Sharpener," the blonde boy eyed him coolly and nodded, "and this is Videl, daughter of Hercule."

Gohan looked at the pig-tailed girl for a second before he shrugged, "My sympathies."

Videl glared at him, "What's that supposed to mean? My father saved us all from Cell!"

"So?"

"So? He's a great warrior!"

Gohan snorted, "No, he's not – I've seen his primping and posturing and he wouldn't know a real warrior if one came up and beat him into a bloody paste." He turned, ignoring the outraged squeak from Videl, and smiled at Erasa, who was smiling slightly, "Thank you, Erasa-san."

"You're welcomed … who are you?"

Gohan chuckled, rubbing his hand on the back of his head, "Sorry, I'm Gohan, Son Gohan."

Erasa's eyes bugged out, "Son? As in … Son Goku?"

Gohan's eyes went slightly flat, "Yes."

Erasa apparently saw this and nodded, "He's supposed to have been the best."

Videl chipped in, "Until my father showed up."

Gohan glared at her, his own version of Vegeta's glare of 'Slow and Painful Death', and the girl blanched, stumbling back into Sharpener, who looked a little pale as well, "Trust me, Videl, that your father's supposed skill would surpass my father's only if Goku were on a respirator and in a Delta-level coma."

Videl glared back at him, though somewhat weakly, "So he's going to show up for the World Martial Arts Tournament, then?"

"The dead have their own schedule," he snapped at her, doing his best to control his temper.

"I'm sorry." He looked at Erasa, who looked sad, "I'm sorry your dad died."

Gohan nodded, feeling his ire lessening, "Thank you, but let me just say that my relationship with my father was never the best." The bell took that moment to ring and he bowed to Erasa, "Thank you again, Erasa-san – maybe we'll see each other later on."

She nodded happily as Videl and Sharpener left, "Okay, Gohan. Later."

Several minutes passed as they walked to class until Videl growled, "Just who does he think he is? My father is the best there is."

"Of course he is, Videl," Sharpener said, soothing her injured ego as best as he could. He, of course, wouldn't say that the kid was right, that Son Goku's skill would probably never be surpassed, but he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her anger at this point of the day.

Videl nodded as they entered the classroom, a short, ebony-flame-like haired man writing his name on the blackboard, "I mean, yeah, I know that Son Goku won the WMAT once and is the youngest to ever compete in it, but that doesn't make him better than my father."

Erasa chipped in at that point, "But, Videl, your dad also hasn't been training anywhere near as long as Goku did, or had the kind of training he did." Videl shot her a glare, but Erasa wasn't cowed in the slightest, "The Turtle Hermit turned him away, saying that he couldn't learn the techniques and even The Demon Lord and the Bandit both said he'd never amount to more than a pro wrestler with a few martial arts classes under his belt."

Videl snorted, "Yeah, I remember, and they were all touting the praises of both Goku and this one other guy; if I ever meet this guy, I'll bust him in the nose and show him just what a real martial artist is!"

"That will have to wait, _seito_ (student)," the teacher said in a slightly gruff voice as he turned back around. As before, he was short, but she could see the muscle mass beneath the arms of his jacket as he spoke, "I am your teacher for the year and you will refer to me as either Sensei or Mr. Briefs. Yes," he cut everyone off, "my wife is Bulma, yes, we have children, and NO you cannot visit Capsule Corporation."

Vegeta looked at the mass of young faces and repressed a grin – this was going to be fun, "Now, as I said, I am going to be your teacher this year, and we are going to learn all about this pathetic mudball everyone calls a planet-" His words were stopped as the door opened, "Yes, what is it?"

"New student, Mr. Briefs," said one of the office women that had been fawning over him from the second he had walked in. She wasn't exactly hard on the eyes, but he was also married, so he had merely smiled – she led in Gohan, "This is Son Gohan, and he will be joining this class block."

"Hi, Gohan!" He looked up at the small blonde girl who called out Gohan's name with a wave, one that Gohan returned, and he grinned slightly – the Harpy would like to hear about this.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the first spawn of Kakarot."

Gohan looked at Vegeta and grinned slightly, "Well, well, well, if it isn't his Royal Shortness, the Prince of Two Other People." Vegeta smirked at him as he walked in more and the annoying office woman left – honestly, if she tried to pinch his cheeks one more time she'd be sent to HFIL on a first-class ticket.

"Introduce yourself, brat, and take a seat next to the blonde _seito_ that called to you." Yeah, he could tell Vegeta was going to have fun with this and tell his mother – oh well, maybe Bulma wanted to know just WHY all of her 'food' ended up being destroyed?

"Very well, I am Son Gohan, I've been home-schooled up to this point and, for some reason, my mother believed that my attending this school would somehow benefit me." Several of the students smirked at this, a few more nodded in sympathy, but the rest merely looked blank, "I have also been trained in the martial and killing arts since I was four, as Vegeta can attest to." With that, he walked up the stairs to the next to the top row, ignoring the looks he was getting from both Sharpener and Videl, and sat down next to Erasa, who smiled at him brightly, "Hello again, Erasa."

She smiled at him some more, "So, you're a martial artist?"

He shrugged, "Depends on your definition of what a martial artist is – in my family, I am a warrior."

Videl snorted and muttered, "Same difference."

Apparently, though, that wasn't quiet enough as Vegeta snorted, "No, Miss Satan, it is NOT the same difference – a martial artist, you know it, is someone who has been trained to spar and can defend themselves adequately. A WARRIOR is someone who has been trained to FIGHT to the death, their own if necessary, and someone who dedicates their life to mastering not only their own style, but learning the styles of others." Vegeta looked up at him and grinned slightly, "Gohan, there, is in fact a Warrior, though his mother is loathe to admit it – your father is merely what passes for a martial artist these days."

Gohan glared at Vegeta slightly, resolving himself to telling Bulma several of Vegeta's secrets to get even with him, but Erasa pulled him out of the glare by asking, "Have you ever killed anyone?"

"Yes." The room went from almost-silent whispers and mutterings to dead silence in a fraction of a second as Gohan answered – Vegeta knew that the boy did not like talking about the things he had done, but if he was answering, so be it, "I've killed in defense of myself and my family, I've killed in the midst of battle madness, and I've gotten someone killed because of my own arrogance."

Vegeta could hear the tone of sickness in Gohan's voice so he spoke up before anyone else could, "Now, on with class – we are here to learn history, so open your books to …"

(Later)

History with Vegeta had been a snap, as had his math and Science courses, and now lunch was over (honestly, you think that the other students had seen someone eat before – the fact that he'd cleared a 'small', by Saiyan standards, meal away had shut everyone up for some reason), so he was off to his English course. Admittedly, he wasn't a linguist, and he wasn't sure why he was being forced to take English, but the fact remained that he had been told to take it, so he would.

At lunch, he'd sat alone at first, but Erasa had walked over and sat with him, much to the apparent annoyance to both Sharpener and Videl, and Gohan found that he was starting to like the talkative young blonde – she'd talked about any and everything under the sun, she had a healthy apatite and had not once blinked at the amount of food he was packing away. In class, she had helped him out with just what it was that the teachers were trying to teach them and had, quietly to everyone else but normally to him, answered the questions before most of the other students – he figured that the 'dumb blonde' act was just that, an act, but he wasn't going to call him on it any more than she had asked him about his training.

Of course, that didn't stop anyone else in the class from asking how, who, where, when and why he had done the things he had done – he, of course, gave them vague answers as to some of them, but when asked about his teachers, he only responded that he knew who they were and they liked their privacy. This had not endeared him to many of the other students, but, quite frankly, he wasn't at school to make friends (despite what his mother said).

"So, Gohan, tell me about where you're from."

He smiled at Erasa slightly, "I'm from the 429 Mountain District, grew up on a piece of my grandfather's land."

She blinked at him, "That's, like, five hundred miles away, isn't it?"

He nodded, "Indeed."

She shrugged, "Okay. So, do you have a girlfriend?"

He chuckled slightly, "I can count the number of girls I know and could call a 'friend' on one hand that are my own age, Erasa. No, no girlfriends." She gave him a look at the words 'my own age' and he went into explanation, "Mom and dad liked their privacy, so most of the people I grew up with were at least 15 years older than me at any given point in time."

"Ahh," Erasa said with a tone of sympathy in her voice. "I know how you feel – before Sharpener and Videl, I never really had too many friends my own age. In fact, aside from my mother and my aunt, there wasn't much of anyone else." She took her seat next to him and didn't look up from her hands, "Half of the time I feel like both Sharpener and Videl only let me stick around them because I'm the cute blonde airhead, but the rest of the time I think they only tolerate me."

Gohan felt oddly angered as he tentatively reached over and lightly patted Erasa on the shoulder, "I … I don't know what to say, Erasa."

She gave him a little smile but then her face scrunched up into one of pain as something slammed down on her hand, "OW!"

"NO TALKING IN MY CLASS!" Gohan looked up to see the mustached teacher holding what looked like a riding crop in his hand, one that he was hauling back again. Inside, he felt his anger flare – this teacher had just hurt Erasa and was about to do it again.

Erasa cradled her hand as she looked up into the face of the teacher, his crop descending again towards her, but then, as if by magic, the crop stopped – the man's eyes bugged out as she saw a hand wrapped around his wrist, in a manner that looked somewhat painful, and she followed that hand back to Gohan's arm. She looked up at his face and almost wet herself – his eyes were flat, completely without emotion, and he looked like he was holding the man's arm with contemptuous ease.

"Let go of me, boy!"

"Shut up and you may get to keep your arm." Gohan's tone was glacial as he appeared to squeeze slightly, a motion that brought a slight crack from the man's wrist and a grunt of pain from him, "You hit her – why?"

She watched the teacher, Mr. Shuu, jerk his hand as if to free it, but it would not budge, "Let me go or I'll have you – ARGH!" His threat was cut off again as Gohan squeezed a little more, "What kind of freak are you?"

"One who is more powerful than you'll ever be, baka." Erasa looked over and saw Mr. Briefs standing in the doorway, his face also a flat mask, "And one who, if I tell him to, will end your sorry life."

"But then the pain stops, Vegeta," Gohan pointed out, a smirk on his lips that, for some reason, made Erasa's heart beat a little faster. "I asked you a question – why?"

"She was talking in class!" Mr. Shuu's wrist crackled a little more and he dropped the riding crop, "Mr. Briefs! Help me!"

"Let him go, Gohan – this is a matter between teachers." She watched as Mr. Briefs walked over and, with the same ease that Gohan used, lifted Mr. Shuu up off of the ground and dragged him away from the classroom.

Silence reigned for several minutes as Gohan sat back down and calmly read his book, but that silence was broken by Erasa, "How did you do that?"

He gave her a look that asked 'do what?' and she asked, "How did you hold him there? He's an adult."

"One who barely works out and has little or no muscle mass." She blinked as he took off his black button-up shirt and revealed a white t-shirt that held a very yummy amount of muscle, of HARD muscle, "I'm not the same."

She poked his bicep first and then his pectoral, feeling a blush creep up on her cheeks, "How … how did you get these?"

He pulled his shirt back on, puzzled by why her cheeks were red, "It's called working out. I train about four hours a day."

She blinked at him several times but said nothing as Mr. Briefs walked back in and spoke, "Mr. Shuu will not be rejoining this class – he's had an attack of … conscience."

Gohan, she saw, smirked and growled out, "Isk tar rhakta porqurath, meh Vegeta?"

Mr. Briefs, for his part, only smirked back and growled, "Grath pak toklna, bretha do Kakarot." (AN: For those among you whom do not speak or read Saiya-go, here's a translation – Gohan: 'What, you left him alive, Vegeta?' Vegeta: 'Death ends the pain, Spawn of Kakarot.') Mr. Briefs then looked at the class, "Read pages 3 through 15, quietly." With that, he left the room and, not wanting to annoy him, everyone did as told … except Erasa. She just stared at Gohan the entire time, an act he seemed completely oblivious to.

AN: I think I'll stop this chapter here – next chapter, a little Gohan torture. Reviews, please.


	3. Chapter 3

3 of ?

AN: Yes, Tammin, Erasa IS a possibility, but as to whom he'll end up with (not Videl), that's still up to the fates now. Rough schedule for Gohan is History, Math, Science, Lunch, Home Eco, Study Hall and Gym. Now … on to the Gohan-torture – some of it serious, some of it funny.

Class that had started with Mr. Shuu and had ended with Vegeta ended pretty much without any further comment from anyone – one thing that Gohan HAD noticed, though, was that Erasa was still staring at him; why, he wasn't sure, but it was starting to unnerve him just a touch, to say the least. Sure, he hadn't and still did not mind the thought of a pretty girl looking at him, but the slight tinge of fear, mixed with awe and something else he could not place, in her eyes was starting to get to him.

"What is it, Erasa?" His question jerked her out of her little world as they walked, without Videl and Sharpener, both of whom were suspiciously absent, down the halls to their next class, which was an elective called 'Home Economics' (something he suspected was his mother's doing).

Erasa blushed a little as she started to pay attention to the floor in front of her, "Well … Gohan … what happened back there?"

"Huh?"

"With Mr. Shuu, you looked like you wanted to rip his arm off and beat him with it." She looked up at him again, her eyes once again a mystery, "I mean, all he did was hit me on the hand with his crop – he's been doing that for years."

Deep in his stomach, Gohan felt a surge of anger erupt from his core and he wasn't exactly sure why – of course he was angry that a man like Shuu had been working with kids and doing this for a while now, but that fact alone didn't explain why he felt like introducing the man to his internal organs alphabetically. Was it Erasa? Was it something about her and their fast friendship that was doing this? "I see."

She just shrugged, though, and they continued walking, "Though I do have to admit, Gohan, you did kinda scare me for a second."

He nodded, "Yeah, I got that – it's not something I'm proud of, Erasa, but it's a byproduct of my training."

"Really?"

He nodded, "My sensei, my first one, taught me to use my emotions to fuel my … abilities and training, but later I learned that while that was good, sometimes it can be taken to an unhealthy extreme." As they approached the Home Economics room, his nose was assault with the smells of both triumph and failure in the forms of burned and savory smells, "A while back I learned that when I'm angry, I tend to be a very different person … especially when it's personal."

Erasa's blush deepened for a moment, "Thank you, Gohan." He blinked at this but then she seemed to shake it off, "So, why are you taking Home Economics? Mom says that if I'm going to survive, I need to learn this stuff … unlike my aunt."

He smirked slightly, "Yeah, pretty much the same reason with my mother – sure, I can cook … kinda, but apparently that isn't enough." They walked into the room and he started to impersonate his mother, "'If you're ever going to find a wife, Gohan, you're going to have to learn this and more. I want grandchildren!'"

Erasa giggled at this, but another voice cut him off, "Gohan, that's not nice! Your mother is a sweet woman!" He turned and saw two people standing there – Tien, the three-eyed warrior and former assassin, and his wife, Lunch; Tien was dressed in his normal uniform, but with a matching bandana across and around his head, while Lunch was pointing her index finger at him and didn't look happy, "I mean, she taught me everything I know about the marital arts."

Gohan bowed to Lunch slightly, as if acknowledging her being right, but then looked at Tien, "So, how'd you get talked into this?"

Tien just shrugged, "Lunch has always wanted to be a teacher, Gohan, and trust me, when you get married, you'll learn that there are only two words that you need to know – 'yes' and 'dear'." Gohan, however, just coughed several times, throwing a 'whipped' in as well.

Erasa, however, smacked him on the back of the head, "Gohan!"

Tien grinned and copied Gohan's coughed 'whipped', which earned him the same treatment from his wife.

Gohan rubbed the back of his head, looking at Erasa, "I've known you less than a day and the abuse has already started."

Lunch, while shaking her hand out, smiled, "Chi-chi would be proud!"

(Later)

Even for all of her seemingly vapid nature, Lunch was indeed a true mistress of the cooking arts, it turned out – she whipped up egg whites into a meringue just as easily as she kept her husband in line with a spatula when he tried to sneak a cookie, she glared the males in class into submission and just as easily brought the most meek of the girls out of her shell to start cooking. Gohan had to admit, after all of that, that he was very impressed with the woman … and that's when it happened.

Lunch was walking by one table, calmly observing one of the boys as he identified spices, when the boy sneezed and sent up a cloud of several different kinds of pepper. Lunch squeezed her eyes shut and began to huff a little, bringing her hand up to her nose.

"A-a-a-ACHOO!"

In a flash, Lunch was gone, in her place a blonde with a tommygun and a trench coat, a manic gleam in her eye as she turned and barked out, "Where am I? You'll never take me alive, coppers!" (AN: Gomen, but I don't remember her name and can't find it anywhere!)

"DOWN!" Tien launched himself at his wife's alter ego even as Gohan flipped the table he and Erasa were behind with a negligent kick as he drew her down to the ground – this was not good.

"What's going on, Gohan?" Even over the din of noise being created by Tien's fighting and the gunfire, Gohan could hear the fear in Erasa's words, and he looked over in time to see the fear blossom in her eye as Tien was thrown away and the woman turned towards them, "Oh, Kami…"

BANG!

Time slowed down slightly as he turned and saw the bullet flying at Erasa, the manic grin on the woman's face as the action locked back on an empty chamber, but none of that mattered as his hand lashed out and closed around the bullet that had reached several inches too close to hitting Erasa, at which point time sped up again.

She knew she was going to die, even as the woman turned and fired, but with a blur a familiar arm and fist came into view – she looked over and saw Gohan sitting next to her, his arm being the one, and she did what any person in that situation would have done. She passed out.

"Lucky catch, brat," the woman snarled even as he heard Erasa pass out and hit the floor.

"If it weren't for the fact you were really Lunch, I'd kill you for this." He squeezed his hand and opened it, letting the crushed bits of metal that had been the bullet fall to the ground as he stood up, his power starting to show slightly as he felt his hair sway slightly. He looked over at the students, all of whom looked ready to wet themselves, and snarled, "Leave!"

They did, in record time, one of them even being so kind as to grab Erasa on her way out.

"Awww, little Gohan cares for the cannon fodder." She sneered at him, "Or is it that cute blonde you saved?"

Gohan ignored her, "Tien, take her down or I will." He was doing his best to keep himself from using the Masenko-ha and blowing this woman away for trying to harm Erasa, and so far he was winning – how long that'd be the case, though, he wasn't sure.

Tien grunted from his place on the ground and hurled a handful of mixed spices at the woman's nose, which made her sneeze again, leaving Lunch in her place, wearing a confused look.

"Oh, my, I do hope I didn't hurt anyone." She looked over at Gohan and frowned a little, "Gohan, why are you hitting your head against the table?"

Gohan didn't answer her, as he merely continued to do so.

(Later)

The class was let back into the room and things were explained that Lunch had a split personality that came out when she sneezed (which wasn't exactly far from the truth), but while many of the students were more than a little scared of her (and rightfully so), all of them could not help but look at Gohan – sure, he was the new kid, but he had CAUGHT a BULLET that was meant for Erasa. How could he have done that? Was it magic?

Erasa, for her part, could have cared less – she had glomped on to Gohan, once she had woken back up, and had been crying for several minutes until it stopped. He looked as if he were uncomfortable with the display of emotion, doing what he could with a pat on her back and a 'there, there', which Tien guessed was the extent of his comforting abilities, given the nature of his childhood. All in all, he had to admit that things had not gone that badly so far for that day – nobody dead, some mild psychological trauma, but nothing serious.

"Alright, kids, go to your next class." The kids all rushed out of the room, leaving him alone with his wife, "Lunch? Are you okay, honey?"

His wife didn't respond immediately, but when she did he was more than a little scared, "No, dearest." She looked up and her eyes were red from crying, "I hate her. I don't want her to be inside of me anymore."

Tien walked over and enfolded his wife into a hug – tomorrow, he'd start the hunt for the Dragonballs to wish the psycho away … if that were possible.

Away from the quiet Home Economics room, Gohan was guiding Erasa to their shared study hall – she was not crying anymore, but still a little shaken up, enough so that she had refused to let go of his right arm; he didn't blame her, though, given what had just happened, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head quickly, "No … no, I don't, Gohan." He left it at that as they entered the room and took two available seats near the top, completely ignoring the teacher who was grading papers.

Several more minutes passed by with the bell ringing and nobody saying a word to the pair as they talked quietly amongst themselves, but that soon passed as Videl and Sharpner both turned in the seats in the row below himself and Erasa and asked in unison, "What in the hell happened?"

He sighed, "Lunch has a split personality that is triggered when she sneezes – I forget her name at the moment, but while she's psychotic, she's relatively harmless around those whom she knows."

Videl glared at him, "And you KNOW that psycho?"

He shrugged, "Through her husband – she's actually kinda nice, in a 'piss me off and I'll kill you' kind of way."

Sharpner snorted, "Then explain how you caught that bullet. That's not normal."

Gohan gave Sharpner a cool look, "I'm a trained martial artist, Sharpner – I'm NOT normal."

"My father couldn't do that, so how could you?"

"Because your father is an idiot and Gohan is my student." All four of them looked over at the teacher, who looked up to show the face of Piccolo – several students screamed in terror, several more looked fascinated, but Gohan merely arched an eyebrow as he felt the vastly-suppressed power of his first teacher and friend, "Hi, squirt."

"Piccolo-sensei. What brings you here … or, I guess I should ask, what'd my mother threaten you with?"

Piccolo growled something about 'frying pans' and 'harpy woman' for a second and then shrugged, "Not much, really, other than she wanted to make sure that you were okay." He then smirked, "Though I think she did manage to put the fear of Kami into Dende."

Gohan smirked at the joke – Dende was still learning how to be Kami of Earth, and while he relied on Piccolo for a great many things, he was rather insulated from the rest of the world and had not been exposed to his mother for very often, "Understood."

Piccolo then glared at the rest of the students, "Keep it quiet, I have papers to grade."

Videl turned around and glared at him harder, "'Student' and 'Piccolo-sensei'? Since when does the Demon King take students?"

"Since he finds either they have great potential or there's a need for one." Gohan pulled out his science book and began to read, "I was four when he started training me in the Demon-style."

"Then teach me!" He looked up at Videl, who was doing her best to glare a hole through his head, "I'm the daughter of Hercule-"

"I won't hold that against you," he quipped idly.

Videl went on as if he hadn't spoken, "-and I demand to be taught!"

Piccolo appeared right behind her and picked Videl up by her pigtails, "Listen here, little girl – I said keep it down and I fully expect to be listen to. Out in the hall, now, with the buckets, and don't come back in until the bell rings to leave." Piccolo put Videl down none-too-gently and disappeared back to his desk and went back to grading papers.

Erasa looked at him for a moment, "And you don't find that **_odd_** in any way, Gohan?"

He just shrugged, "Piccolo-sensei left me in the wilderness to survive on my own for six months, Erasa – for him, what he did to Videl was down right friendly."

Videl, for her part, glared at Gohan before she marched down to the door and grabbed the buckets, walking out into the hall and holding them away from her sides. This went on for several minutes before she idly began to raise the buckets a little further away from her sides, doing her best to hold them there for as long as she could.

Inside the classroom, unbeknownst to her, Piccolo grunted slightly in approval before he marked a failing grade on the paper he was looking at.

The rest of Study Hall went without incident, save for the odd question from Erasa about his training, and when the bell rang, Videl came in and looked pretty worn out, especially in her shoulders.

"You okay, Videl?"

Gohan watched with a smirk as she glared at Sharpner for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little sore."

"Remember this, then, because if you make him mad again, he may make you run weighted laps." They all looked at him and he went on to explain, "Weighted laps are laps you run while wearing about half of your body weight in extra weights. Every time you stop running or complain, he adds on more weight and more laps."

Shaprner looked aghast, "That's not right!"

Gohan shrugged, "It's an effective training tool – you build your strength and endurance, for one, and you learn to follow instructions, for another. Trust me, he can get inventive when he wants you to learn a lesson." They walked in silence to their next class, gym, and Gohan had to admit that he was both looking forwards to it and, at the same time, dreading it – firstly, it was co-ed, which he didn't mind, but he'd seen the uniforms and while they didn't hide much with the girls (a good thing, a part of his mind said with a happy giggle and some bouncing around), it'd probably hide a lot less on him (another good point, a more savage part of his mind said with a feral tone). Once he was in the locker room and had been given his clothes, he sighed and changed into them, ignoring the stares from the other guys, and just sat in place until the coach called for them to go out into the gym.

For her money, Erasa had to admit that, as the boys came out of their locker room, that some of the guys were seriously starting to look cute even as their coach called out roll call, but her mind froze as she saw Gohan – sure, she'd seen his torso earlier, but apparently that was only a small sample of the whole package. He was muscular, very much so, but not bulky, and put together in a way that made her wipe the drool from the corner of her mouth, "Oh, my."

From behind her came a chorus of, "'Kami-sama's and 'Amen'."

Gohan, for his part, had to brutally repress the urge to walk over to the girls side of the gym, club several of them over the back of the head and drag them all back to a cave he knew of – even in the hideous school colors, he had to admit that the girls all appealed to him, greatly, "You are a good and kind kami, Dende."

"Alright, maggots, listen up!" The head coach blew his whistle and got their attention, "Now, as you kids ran our old teacher off last year, we've had to go and find a new one. This guy's one of the best in the business when it comes to martial arts!"

Gohan felt his gut clench even as the door opened to reveal …

AN: Okay, that's it for this part – who is it? Hercule? Krillen? Yamcha? We'll find out in the next part – reviews, please.


	4. Chapter 4

4A of ?

AN: Warning – blood and Videl-bashing (physical) in this chapter – nothing too major, but I just don't want it to shock you and, no, it won't be a recurring theme.

"The new Turtle Master, Krillen Chestnut!" The class all blinked as one as a short, muscled man dressed in a pair of tan pants and a red shirt walked out of the teacher's office – he wasn't tall, obviously, and his head was covered with a light fuzz, as if he had shaved his head and it was just growing back out, but all of them noticed the almost palatable aura of power and experience around him as he walked out and flashed them the 'peace' sign.

"What's up, guys?" Several people in the class waved at him or nodded back, but as the new coach looked them over, he stopped on one person, "Gohan? What's up, bro?"

As one, the class turned to LOOK at Gohan, who had an oddly amused look on his face, "Hey, Krillen – when did you beat Master Roshi for the title?"

Krillen just shrugged, "A few months ago. I take it your mother finally got her way and sent you to a public school?"

Gohan nodded and the class was in awe – the new kid knew someone who was a verified martial arts legend, who was the new Turtle-style Master, had trained under the Demon King, and he acted like it was no big deal?

After roll was called, Krillen looked at the class and nodded, "Okay, as you've been told, I'm Krillen Chestnut and I'll be your coach for the year; I'll be teaching you the rudiments of the Turtle style and about the Martial Arts in general – any questions?"

Sharpner called out, "Just you for all of us?"

Krillen shook his head and grinned somewhat evilly, "No, not just me – given his knowledge of the style, I think I'll have Gohan acting as my assistant teacher. Gohan? Go get changed, please, your uniform is in the office." Krillen repressed a shiver of fear with the glare that Gohan sent his way, but said nothing as his new teaching assistant went off to get changed, "Any other questions?"

Videl spoke up, "Why did the old Turtle Master turn my father down as a student?"

Krillen arched his eyebrow, "And you are?"

She squared her shoulders, "Videl Satan."

Krillen winced, "You have my sympathies, and your father was rejected because Roshi didn't think he'd survive the training process."

Videl snorted, "Well, then maybe you should train my father is Roshi couldn't."

Krillen's eyes narrowed slightly, "That's Master Roshi to you, student, and you have it wrong – your father wouldn't have survived the training, and not many could."

Erasa raised her hand, "How do you know Gohan?"

Krillen grinned, "His father and I went way back, when we were both students of Master Roshi – Gohan's almost a chip off of Goku's block, but where his father was a touch … er … naïve, Gohan's seen and done more than most people three times his age, so he's a little more worldly."

"That's one way of putting it, Krillen," Gohan said as he walked out of the office, his new uniform on.

Videl was the first to shout, "Hey! That's not the Turtle-style uniform!"

Krillen nodded, "You're right – it's not." Gohan had on the basic pattern of the Turtle-style uniform, though where it should have been orange it was black, and where it was black it was now a deep, deep red, the color of blood, tied off with a red sash and wrist bands. "For Gohan, he's EARNED the right to wear a different uniform, given his training and experience, though he still has a lot to learn."

The conversations pretty much stopped there as Krillen led them all through a general warm up session and then through some basic techniques that revolved around stances, punching and kicking, taking note of just who looked like they could actually survive a fight – the girl, Videl, her friends Sharpner and the other girl, Erasa, all had passingly good techniques to begin with, though each needed some help, but on the whole, the rest of he class was a total loss. Gohan, he noted, had his eyes on Erasa, a slight smile on his lips, and Krillen KNEW he had material to work with now so that he could tease the demi-human. Whether he survived it or not would depend on Gohan's mood at the time, of course, but still, there would be much teasing in the future.

"You're dropping your left, Erasa." She looked over at Gohan, who had this intense expression on his face as he scanned the rows of students, all of whom were in stance and punching in time. He looked good in his uniform, though she could hear a darker part of her mind questioning just what he looked like out of that uniform – she ruthlessly repressed that part of her mind, remember what her aunt had told her about human males her age: they weren't worth the time or effort to get angry over.

After another ten minutes of basics, Krillen had the kids all gather together, "Good beginning, but now Gohan and I are going to show you just what it possible if you ever wish to become a TRUE martial artist. Do not get close, or it could get ugly." Videl growled even as he and Gohan walked away, masking his voice, "Gohan, try to not make me look too bad."

Gohan smirked at him, "You mean not send you into the next life?"

"It'd be much appreciated," he said somewhat dryly. "And let's keep the power level down, okay? I'm not sure the gym could survive you powering up."

Gohan nodded, stepping away, "Right, so just make it a good show." Gohan stood about ten feet away from him, slid into a stance that Piccolo had apparently taught him, and began to power up very slightly, "Haaaaa…."

Erasa blinked in astonishment as white flames began to surround Gohan even as the sensei copied his stance and did the same, but blue flames surrounded his body – what was going on? This continued for several more seconds before Sensei dashed forwards with ungodly speed, lashing out at Gohan, but Gohan blocked with a single wrist, flicked it wide and began an attack of his own – the two went back and forth, breaking laws of physics left and right as they leapt ten, fifteen, twenty feet into the air, bounced and ricocheted off of ceiling joists and landed on the floor without so much as breaking a sweat, slamming fits, feet, elbows, knees and heads into their opponents defenses, never once scoring a hit on the other, "Unreal."

"Amen," Sharpner said to her side.

"Fakers," Videl snarled at her other side, her eyes set in a hard cast as the pair made their way towards them. Erasa opened her mouth to stop Videl, but she was too late as her friend launched herself at the momentarily-stationary fighters with a battle cry.

It was like watching a car wreck in slow motion – Krillen was arching his head and body back to avoid Gohan's roundhouse kick, Gohan's foot sailing just fractions of an inch away from what was supposed to be his nose, and closing in was Videl, her fist raised even as Gohan's falling foot intersected her flight path.

Time sped back up slightly as the sole Gohan's foot made contact with Videl's face, a wet, meaty smack and crunch filling the air as Videl's cry of war ended abruptly and her head snapped back – the power of the kick, on top of Videl's own momentum, met and not only was Videl thrown back at the crowd of students in a spinning mass of legs and arms and pigtails, but through the air blood sailed as both fighters came to rest on the ground, the elder looking concerned and the younger looking horrified.

"Someone get the nurse!" Krillen's barked order came just as Videl's body hit the ground in a boneless fashion generally reserved for the dead, blood droplets hitting the ground in a pattern. Erasa could only blink as she heard someone run off, shouting, as both student and teacher seemingly teleported to Videl's side.

She watched with awed horror as both Krillen and Gohan worked to check Videl over, their hands running over her neck, arms and legs, obviously checking for broken bones even as her nose gushed blood. Krillen snapped an order and Gohan ripped off his belt sash, using it to first wipe away Videl's blood and to then staunch the flow of it as the nurse came running into the room.

"What happened?"

Krillen looked up, his face grim, "She ran into a spar that Gohan and I were having, even after I specifically told the students to stay away, and this is the end result."

The nurse pulled the belt away from Videl's face and hissed, "Her nose is crushed!"

Gohan snorted, "That wasn't even a hard kick – add to that she was running into the direction of the kick and I'm not surprised."

The nurse glared at Gohan, "Her father's going to be angry with you."

Gohan gave the nurse a blank look, "Like I care what that coward has to say. In fact, I hope someone tells him who did this – he and I need to have words anyway."

Erasa's jaw dropped even as her mind registered the pure disgust in Gohan's voice as he stood and looked over at them, barking, "Class dismissed – change clothes and stay in the locker rooms until the bell rings." She followed her classmates into their locker room and robotically changed out of her gym clothes as her mind went over and over again on what she had seen in the gym – she'd seen Gohan and their Sensei, Krillen Chestnut, perform with the greatest of ease Martial Arts moves that were like something you saw out of a 'wire-fu' movie, she'd seen one of her oldest friends and classmates, Videl, get seriously hurt and had just seen Gohan act as if he didn't care; why was it, then, that she felt so hollow now? She'd known Gohan for less than a day, and already she had some kind of strong attachment to him and it HURT to see him acting like this – why?

The bell rang and she made her way home, quickly, not paying attention to anything along the way, and when she did get home, Erasa vaguely heard her mother tell her that her aunt was in the garage and wanted to speak with her.

"Erasa?" She jerked and looked up into the face of her aunt, the mirror image of her mother save that her mother's face was more rounded and less angular, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Auntie … I think." She looked up and asked, her lower lip trembling, "Why is it that I'm hurting over a guy I just met?"

Her auntie pushed a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear and walked over, her clothes covered in grease, which was obvious as she appeared to be fixing her mother's car, "Tell me what happened."

Erasa spent about fifteen minutes doing just that and when she was done, her Aunt just snorted emotionlessly, "From the sounds of it, you feel bad that Videl got hurt because she didn't listen."

Erasa nodded, "I do … but Gohan … I feel bad for him."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think he felt bad about it, Aunt Juu."

Her Aunt frowned, "Don't call me that, Erasa – my name is Android Eighteen, not 'Juu'."

AN: DUN, DUN, DUN! So, how's THAT for a twist? Chapter's a lot shorter than I wanted it, but as I've lost my notes for this story, I'm playing it by ear – what do you think? Reviews, please.


	5. Chapter 5

4B of ?

AN: Minor change to the timeline – sorry.

(Satan Manor)

Hercule snarled as the doctors checked his little girl over – someone would pay for this, yes, they would, "Who hurt my little girl?"

"According to the records, one Son Gohan," his secretary, Cindy, said, checking her notes.

He stopped, frowning, "Why is that name so familiar?"

"His father is Son Goku, former WMAT champion, practitioner of the Turtle Style, and the youngest competitor in the WMAT – that's his belt you're going after in four months, sir."

He growled, "Coward can't even answer my letters for a formal meeting."

His secretary sighed, "Sir, he's dead. If he DID answer them, I'd be worried."

Hercule stopped short, "Oh, yeah, I forgot that part. So, who is this kid of his?"

Cindy clicked on the computer and brought up a file, one that made Hercule nervous, "Son Gohan, practitioner of the Turtle, Demon, Saiyan, Bandit and Ox styles, heir to the now-defunct Ox Kingdom, considered by some of the greatest martial artists as one of the most deadly young men on the planet. In short, if he decides to compete in the WMAT, he has a better chance of taking the title home than you do, sir."

Hercule snorted, "Sounds like a punk to me – where is he? I wanna scare him."

Cindy arched her eyebrow at him and tapped a few times on the computer before an address came up, "He has two addresses on file, sir, one is in the Mountain District, the other … is Capsule Corporation "

"Call them up and demand to speak with him! Tell them Hercule Satan said so!" Hercule stormed around even as he heard Cindy sigh and call someone an 'afro-haired moron' while dialing the video phone.

"Capsule Corp, this is Mrs. Briefs speaking," came out of a cute blonde on the screen.

Cindy smiled, "Yes, Mrs. Briefs, I would like to speak with Son Gohan, please."

The woman nodded, "One moment – he's in the gravity chamber." This piqued Hercule's interest – gravity chamber? Was that some kind of age-defying device? Several dozen seconds later the blonde was back on, "I'm sorry, but he'd like to know who's interrupting his sparring match with Vegeta so he can gut them – may I have the name of the person calling?"

He stormed over to the phone, "Tell him it's Hercule Satan and that he's going to die for hurting my little girl!"

The blonde nodded, "One moment please." They were put onto hold, some stylish music filtering through the speakers and then, once again, the blonde was on, "Young Gohan wants me to relay that if you have anything to say to him, you can say it at the World Martial Arts Tournament, when he takes his father's title for himself. Thank you for calling Capsule Corporation, bye!"

The screen clicked off and Hercule blinked several times, "Did she just-"

Cindy nodded, "She basically just told you your days on top are numbered, sir. Shall I arrange your retirement party now?"

He growled, "I want to meet this kid at the school, personally – make it happen, Cindy." With that, he went back to his daughter's room and sat next to her as the doctors did their best to plan out how to give her a normal nose again.

(Capsule Corporation)

"What is it, Brat?"

"That jackass Hercule is starting to annoy me, Vegeta, and it's not wise to annoy a Saiyan." He turned and looked at the elder Saiyan Prince, who was picking himself up off of the ground after a mirror-reflected energy blast had pegged him in the back of the head, a stunning blow more than anything, "What's his problem?"

Vegeta chuckled, "He's a weak human, Gohan, and he's arrogantly thinking that he is better than you – if you do indeed compete in the World Martial Arts Tournament, make sure that you prove him wrong."

"Are you going to enter?"

Vegeta was silent for a moment before he shook his head, "No, I am not – without Kakarot to defeat, the tournament would be useless." Gohan arched an eyebrow at him and Vegeta snorted, "I am not as single-minded as the Onna thinks I am, Gohan, and I have no want to battle without it being against your father – his death should have been at my hand."

Gohan nodded, "You're right – it was at mine." It had taken him some time to get over the initial anger he had felt at himself over his father's death, but that anger had been replaced by a simmering one, one that had come to be when his father had decided to stay dead, as if his death was going to protect the world somehow.

"No, it was your father's decision to stay dead, Gohan, not yours – it is his disgrace." Vegeta was now on his feet, working out a few kinks, "Now, let us continue – with this tournament, you may find a challenge."

Gohan smiled, "Yeah, maybe." Gohan powered up to just under the trigger point of Super and grinned at Vegeta, who did the same, "But then again, I may just breeze through it to get my hands on Hercule." With that said, he launched himself at Vegeta.

(Elsewhere)

"Tell me, Aunt Juu, WHY am I doing this?"

She looked over at her niece, who was now in a black, armored training gi, standing in a modified Horse stance, sweating as she did, and she nodded at the girl, "You are doing this in order to excel at your martial arts training, and do not call me 'Aunt Juu'. My name is Android Eighteen."

Erasa gave her a look, "Your name is Clair, or at least it was."

She glared at her niece, "You're right, it WAS, and for that you get another fifteen minutes of meditation in that position." She saw the glare that her niece sent at her and grinned thinly, "Would you like to make that thirty minutes?"

"Only if you want my thighs to look like a cows," Erasa sent back at her with a semi-snarl, one that she did not respond to. Erasa spent far too much time on her physical appearance, not enough time on her martial arts abilities (which she had to admit was a recent development) and too much time on boys – honestly, why would she want to concern herself with immature, testosterone-laden adolescent males was beyond her ability to process.

Of course, she had to admit that there were a few that MIGHT be worth the time and compute time …

Eighteen shook her head – no, she had other things to worry about, like teaching her niece the martial arts, or at least some aspects of it, so she would not look like a total incompetent in front of the teacher and his 'assistant', Krillen Chestnut and Gohan Son…

"AUNT JUU!" She snapped back to herself as she looked over at her niece, who had a pained look on her face, "How long has it been?"

Checking her internal clock, Eighteen winced, "Time, Erasa – go shower." Erasa limped away from the room and Eighteen sighed – she'd been off 'gathering wool' for nearly a half-hour, and it passed like seconds.

AN: Been looking at this little four page bit for nearly a month now and, I have to say, that writer's block BLOWS. Reviews, please – that might kick-start my muse.


	6. Chapter 6

5

AN: Okay, a few have stated that Gohan is a bit off for his character and that, believe it or not, is actually the way he's going to be portrayed for a bit (a few chapters) – he's going through a lot of stuff right now and it'll all be worked over in the next few chapters, though not worked out entirely.

Be Warned: There will heavy anger/angst issues later on this chapter – these are a building tool to what is going to come, so take them as they are meant, please, and don't flame.

Also, this story will be worked on in my spare time, when RL and my other stories (which I am going to try and finish first) give me the chance. Now, on with the carnage… I mean fic.

(Son House – night)

Gohan stared at the ceiling of his room as the ticks of his Saiyan-proof alarm clock (a gift from Bulma on his last birthday) filled his ears – his training session with Vegeta had been enough to take the edge off of the feeling he'd been experiencing as of late, one that Vegeta told him he would continue to feel for a few more months, but Gohan knew that, sooner or later, he was going to snap. Kami, he hated Saiyan puberty – it really chapped his tail that, as a half-breed, it affected him earlier than it would a full-blooded Saiyan, but more so it brought out some of the Saiyan's less… likable attributes.

He closed his eyes and snorted at the term – according to Vegeta he was going to be more aggressive and possessive (especially when it came to food) during this point in his life, that his mood swings would be greater and that it would be harder to resist the urge to go into battle madness; the up side, though, was that the latent genes in his DNA were now starting to activate and he would become something akin to a three-quarters Saiyan, at least in physiology. He'd be physically tougher, more resistant to poisons and toxins, and his power base would only be marginally better, but as a drawback his mental functions would alter slightly and he would start to think differently – like a warrior, a Saiyan Elite; he'd walk into a room and, instantly, search out the strongest, most capable fighter, every means of egress, and the cannon fodder of that he could sacrifice, should it become necessary.

It is never necessary to sacrifice a person, son. Ah, yes, the general cause of his frustrations and anger.

'Sometimes it is, father.'

A true warrior would find a way to protect everyone.

'No, a naïve one would do that – a true warrior knows that nobody can save everybody.' Every night Goku talked to him, as if it would help him get over the anger he felt towards his father, and every night Gohan found a reason to resent the bastard more and more – sure, he'd screwed up and let his ego get the best of him against Cell, and his father had paid the price for that. He'd gotten over that a while back, but what still irked him more than anything was the fact that his father truly believed that, without him being there, that the Earth was safe.

It is safer without me being there, son, and you know that. Do you really think that I wanted to stay away from your mother and you?

Gohan could hear the hurt tone in his voice, but ignored it, 'Well, it's not like you ever were hear all that long anyway. Always off on one training journey or another.'

He could hear the wince in his father's mental voice, That's not fair, Gohan, because you know I was getting stronger to protect you and your mother.

'And you've forgotten a precept of being a warrior – no matter how strong you get, there is always somebody stronger just over the next hill, or on the next planet, or off in the depths of space. It's a self-perpetuating cycle that further distances yourself from the ones you love, all on the off chance that, at the end, you'll be the strongest of everyone.'

And then I can protect you two!

Gohan snorted, 'And by that point, mom and I will be dead and some young buck will come along to take your place, just like you took the place of the last person who was titled 'the strongest'. Face it, FATHER, you're up there for your own selfish reasons and, so far, you're the only one who doesn't realize it..' With that, Gohan severed his mental connections to the Warrior's Heaven and rolled over – he had school the next morning.

(In Warrior's Heaven)

Goku frowned slightly as he pulled his hand away from King Kai's back, "Why is Gohan so angry at me? Everything I've ever done was for him."

"Which has only resulted in you missing more than half of his life, Goku," the cat-fish-faced Kai said with an aged voice. "You've missed a lot in his life, and for a long time he wanted nothing more than to be just like you, but now that he's growing up, he's realizing that he's going to be living in your shadow for a long, long time, unless he breaks out of it."

Goku sighed, "Why can't he realize that it's not a decision I made lightly, King Kai? Doesn't he know that I'd rather be down there with him, training with him and holding his mother while she's cooking instead of being up there?"

King Kai looked at his last student and sighed, "Goku, there is more to life than fighting and eating. Let me ask you a question – have you ever wondered why it was that Gohan's always been so powerful?"

Goku smiled, "Because he's my son, and I'm strong."

King Kai nodded, "True, some of that strength came from you and from Chi-Chi, but not all of it; in fact, very little of it came from you and your wife." The older godling smiled slightly, "You see, Gohan's power comes from his own mind and how he understands the world – sure, being half-Saiyan means that he'll be able to control a lot more of this power than a full Saiyan or pure Human would, as he gets the best of both worlds, but a lot of it comes from the depths of his emotions and how he controls them, Goku. Add to that, that right now he's going through an advanced form of Saiyan puberty, and you have a very angry, very confused young man who is about to be faced with a rather tempting chance to hurt someone."

Goku looked at King Kai oddly, "Who?"

"Hercule Satan – tomorrow, he's going to the school to confront Gohan on his daughter's own pig-headedness … and I dare say that Gohan's going to tell Hercule something that he's not going to like."

Goku looked down at the Earth in worry – he knew his son's temper and, given the way he had heard Hercule Satan speak of himself and the others, he knew that Gohan's fuse was already lit and burning dangerously quick.

(Orange Star Junior High – next day)

Erasa rubbed her legs a little as she noticed the school was abuzz with excitement, "I wonder what's going on?"

Sharpner looked at her, "Didn't you hear? Hercule's going to be here today to 'talk' with Gohan about what he did to Videl."

Erasa growled a little, "Gohan didn't do anything to her! He and Mr. Chestnut told us to stay away and she didn't." Honestly, WHY she was friends with such a hard-headed, strong-willed and one-minded person, Erasa wouldn't know, but as that was a recent development…

"Hey guys." She turned and saw Gohan walked towards her, a slight smile on his lips even as she felt her pulse begin to pick up just a bit. Dressed in a pair of loose pants and a matching tan t-shirt, he looked… content, "What's up?"

Sharpner smiled somewhat evilly, "Hercule is SO going to kick your ass today, Gohan."

Gohan, for his part, only looked slightly amused, "Really?"

She sighed, "Gohan, why don't you respect the man who supposedly saved us all from Cell?"

Gohan looked at her and, for a moment, she could swear his eyes were a jade color, "Because I know better, he's a braggart and, as much as I hate to admit it, he's insulting my father – I won't stand for that last one, as it insults me as well."

Erasa opened her mouth to ask about his father, but Mr. Chestnut's voice stopped her, "Gohan, bro, we need to talk." Internally Erasa growled – soon, very soon, she and Gohan were going to have a talk about things without being interrupted.

As Krillen drug him away, Gohan felt a chill go up his spine at the look that Erasa was shooting at Krillen, "What's up, Krillen?"

As soon as they were out of the main stream of students, the Turtle Master looked at him, "Okay, you've heard about Hercule showing up here today, right?" Gohan nodded and Krillen went on, "Look, we both know what he's going to do – as the Turtle Master, I have the right and privilege to accept any challenges he would make, and that's what I'm going to do, Gohan."

Gohan shook his head, "Krillen, you can't-"

Krillen's features took an unusually sharp look to them, "Yes, I can, Gohan, and I will. Like it or not, you can kill him with a single shot and we both know that – what good will that do you?"

Gohan took a breath and let it out slowly – Krillen was right, he COULD kill Hercule with a single punch, or a kick, or a ki blast, and where would that get him? "I don't like it, Krillen."

The ex-monk nodded, "I know, bro, but if it's going to happen, it's going to happen at the WMAT. Now, get to class – you mother would kill me if I made you late."

Gohan smirked at the shorter man, "No she wouldn't – she'd make you eat Bulma's cooking." As Krillen turned green at the prospect of that, Gohan walked off, idly whistling a tune under his breath.

(Later – Study Hall)

Gohan had been neck-deep in his studies all day, not ignoring Erasa at all but making sure he paid attention, but now he had no excuse, "Yes, Erasa?"

The blonde girl in front of him practically had a battle aura around her, "If I ask you a question, do you promise to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you Kami?"

Smirking, Gohan put his hand on her science book and held up his other, his four fingers split into a 'V', "I swear so."

The aura seemed to pulse just a bit as she growled at him and jerked his arm down, "Alright, just what happened yesterday? You and Mr. Chestnut were doing things that weren't possible."

"According to whom," he asked blandly. This didn't do anything good for her temper, so he went on, "Who says that what we did wasn't possible?"

She controlled her temper a bit, "You hurt Videl."

He shook his head, "No, Videl hurt Videl – we warned you all to stay back, but she ignored us, so she got hurt. It's sad, but it happens."

It appeared that this satisfied her for a second as she went on to another question, "What happened to your father? He died at the Cell games."

"You just answered your own question." Gohan felt his humor die quickly as he spoke – he did not want to get into it now.

Erasa, though, wasn't finished, "Look, I don't think Hercule did what he said he did either, but if you don't tell me what's going on, I won't stop pestering you. Trust me, I'm good at annoying people – ask my aunt if you ever meet her."

He arched his eyebrow at her and frowned even as he felt a familiar presence touch his mind, 'What is it, Piccolo?'

'Agree to tell her, but on your terms.'

He nodded subconsciously, "Alright, but talk on my terms, where I choose."

Erasa brightened a lot, "Deal." She stuck out her hand and he shook it, feeling her firm grip, "Alright, now what are you going to do if-"

Her question was cut off by the door being kicked in and the afro-haired idiot himself storming in, "Where is Son Gohan? Where is he so I can rip his head off for hurting my Sugar Pea?"

Gohan rolled his eyes as Piccolo turned from grading his papers and glaring at the man, "If you don't be quiet I'll send you to HFIL."

Sighing, Gohan stood up, "I'm here – let's take this to the gym." With a jaunty salute to Erasa, he walked down to the floor level and past the now-gawking 'Savior of Humanity' towards the gym.

Erasa, for her money, actually waited until Hercule started to walk after Gohan before she bolted out of her chair after them, soon being joined by the rest of the class.

(Gym – several minutes later)

With a rather large crowd of on-lookers, Gohan watched as Hercule primped and flexed for the kids, several of them 'ooooh'-ing and 'aaaah'-ing, but for the most part none of them really paid attention, "So, what do you want? If its tips on hair care, here's a tip – the afro went out a decade or two ago."

The dark-haired wrestler-turned-fighter growled at him, "I want you, no, I DEMAND you apologize for hurting my little girl."

Feeling his irritation grow a bit, Gohan repressed the urge to rip the man's afro off of his head, "Why should I do that? Mr. Chestnut and I both told the other students to not get close and your daughter ignored it – clear-cut case of what happens when you don't follow directions."

Hercule growled at him, this time stomping forwards a bit, "Listen to me, you little punk, if you don't apologize to her now, I'm going to rip you apart and send you back to your mother in a BOX!"

Several of the students made noises as if to show they were afraid of this, while many of the students looked at him with interest, but Gohan could see both Krillen and Vegeta doing their best to not break out in laughter, "Like you could."

Hercule pushed out his chest and hit it several times, "I defeated Cell!"

Gohan gave the man a nasty smile that made several of the students step back a little, "Well pin a rose on your nose. Is that supposed to impress me? It's only your word, as there is no actual footage of what happened there. For all we know, someone else beat him and you're just taking the credit."

A fine sheen of sweat broke out on Hercule's forehead, but he stood defiantly, "What would your father say if he were here? What kind of a heathen did he raise that wouldn't apologize to a girl he'd hit?"

The large room went silent, save for a muttered, "ohshit," from both Vegeta and Krillen. Gohan, for his part, did very well in not blasting the loud-mouthed braggart on the spot, or so he thought, "I knew my father for under half of my life, Hercule, so don't think for a second that I care what he'd think. He as always off on some training journey to make himself stronger, off on this, that or the other, and now that he's dead I could give a rat's ass what he thinks." He then started to walk forwards, "What I can tell you, though, is that my mother taught me to do what was right, and I know that I'm in the right for not apologizing because your daughter couldn't follow directions." He smirked a little as his anger began to boil more, "But that makes me wonder, what kind of a father are you that your daughter can't listen and follow simple instructions?"

Hercule went a rather interesting shade of purple, "DON'T YOU DARE QUESTION MY RAISING MY DAUGHTER!" He took a few deep breaths, but it appeared that Hercule got himself under control enough to say, "If you won't apologize voluntarily, I'll be one out of you."

Gohan shrugged, "Sure, however you want it – here or at the WMAT, I'll beat you."

Hercule stopped, "What?"

"I said, 'here or at the WMAT, I'll beat you'."

Hercule smirked at him, "What makes you think you could beat me at the WMAT, boy?"

Gohan smirked right back at him, "Because I'm entering it and taking the title from you."

Hercule laughed as several of the students gasped, "You can't! You're too young."

Gohan smirked at him and quoted, "Rule 148, Part B – 'If at any point in time a Champion cannot defend his or her title, due to injury or death, the eldest child may step in his or her stead.' The title still bears my father's name, Hercule, and that rule states that I'm going to be there to win it for myself." With that and a pat to the man's cheek, Gohan walked towards the exit, the crowd of student parting around him like the proverbial 'Red Sea' from some old religion his mother had made him read about. Yes, this was going to be fun.

From her position, Erasa could see the almost evil grin on Gohan's face and knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this was not going to be fun.

"He's crazy." "He's brave." "He's insane." "He's cute." The whispers started around her as she started after Gohan, but one whisper reached her ears before she got to the doors, and it was Hercule's.

"I'm dead."

AN: Alright, here's another little bit, though a touch longer than the last one. Next part – Gohan and Erasa have a talk and a few things are resolved (but a few more start). Reviews, please.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

AN: Was a little heavy in the last chapter, so maybe this one will lighten up a bit… we'll see.

(Outside of the school)

"GOHAN!" He stopped and turned to see Erasa storming out of the school after him, her blue eyes like ice and her lips set into a rather firm scowl – change the hair and the eyes and she would have reminded him of either Bulma or his mother quite well…

"Yes, Erasa?" Her eyes flared and, instinctively, he looked for a frying pan in her hands, but sighed in relief when he saw none.

"What. Was. That. In. There?" Oh, yeah, he was in trouble – rule fifteen, when a woman is angry and near a Saiyan, frying pans have a tendency to appear out of thin air. Vegeta had actually been the one that had come up with that rule, but they both adhered to it faithfully.

"Um… which part?"

Erasa stalked a touch closer and Gohan looked around for that frying pan to appear as she hissed, "The part where you told Hercule Satan that you would meet him at the WMAT to take your father's title."

He blinked, "Oh, is that all?"

BONG! Erasa smashed a frying pan over his skull with a speed and skill that rivaled his mother's and Bulma's, and said pan vanished after she pulled back and his ears rang, "IS THAT ALL? IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT?" Even as he tried to clear his head, she went on ranting, "You're going up against someone three times your age, twice as tall and probably twice as heavy as you, and you're not even WORRIED about it?"

Finally shaking off the last of the ringing, he shrugged, "Been through worse, actually – you've met Piccolo, right?"

BONG! Again she hit him with the ever-elusive frying pan – when he figured out just WHERE that thing came from, he was going to…

Erasa glared at him with such an intensity that he felt her ki begin to fluctuate wildly, "Gohan, I am going to ask you this one last time and if I don't like the answer I am going to end our friendship. Do you understand that?" He nodded as the ringing in his ears stopped, (…and was that the sound of someone snickering?) "Good – what was that little display we just saw in the gym?"

Giving the lump on his head one final rub, he answered, "It was irritation, mostly, and a promise. I'd been expecting to go after the belt anyway, but Hercule just gave me a reason to make him worry."

Erasa frowned a little, "Gohan… are you sure that's what you want to do?"

He nodded, "It's not only that, it's what I have to do if I ever want to get out of my father's shadow." He hated it there, hated it with a passion, really – every time he did something, he was always compared to his father in some way, but if he did this, it'd be him, and him alone.

Erasa nodded, "Okay, then I trust you. Now, I want some other answers I distinctly remember you promising me." Gohan grinned a little and Erasa crossed her arms, tapping one foot, "Well?"

"I said I'd choose the place and time, right?" She nodded and he drew closer, "Then hold on – this might be a little… disorienting." He pulled her into a one-armed hug and put two fingers to his forehead, using a technique that he'd seen his father use and Instant Teleported to the courtyard of Kami's Lookout. He let go of Erasa, who looked a touch… green at this point, "Okay, Easa, welcome to Kami's Lookout and what do you want to know?"

She looked at him for a second before she turned almost in place and passed out.

(Later – Kami's Outlook)

She was warm, nice and toasty, actually, and the air smelled of good things – honestly, she hadn't felt this good in a while, not since… not since before her father had died. Erasa opened her eyes and saw that she was in a rather large bed in a room that could be called a cross between modern contemporary and Arabian nights, given the mix of styles that were present, but none of that really mattered as she saw that, across the room, asleep on the small couch there, was Gohan, dressed as he had been at school, "Gohan?"

One eye opened and looked at her, a grin crossing his face, "Awake, I see. Feel better?"

She nodded absently, "Where are we?"

"Kami's Lookout." She blinked and looked at him, doing her best to ask 'are you kidding', but nothing came out of her moving mouth so Gohan apparently figured it out, "Yes, this is Kami's Lookout… or should that be Dende's Lookout, seeing as he's Kami now?"

"You know Kami by his first name?" Gohan looked at Erasa after she screeched a question that he had been expecting at some point in time, but he had honestly hoped that she would not have screeched it.

He nodded at her slightly, "Yeah, I met him … three? Almost four years ago, and I think I met the previous Kami before him, who, oddly enough, was actually named Kami." He got off of the couch and walked over to where she sat and sat next to her, "So, what questions did you want to know the answers to?"

She looked at him blankly for a moment before she managed to get out, "You drop the fact you know Kami by his first name on me and expect an intelligent question?" He nodded and jerked back, expecting the disappearing frying pan which, thankfully, didn't make an appearance, but instead she reached out and grabbed him by the ear, twisting it a little.

From his position in the door, Dende was more than a little amused to see the blonde human girl grab Gohan by the ear and twist, bringing a squawk out of the demi-Saiyan as quickly as Chi-Chi could. As he turned to leave, Dende resolved that Chi-Chi would be quire pleased to learn of this…

"Ow, leggo!" Gohan tried for several seconds get out of the dreaded 'ear lock of doom' that Erasa had firmly locked in on him, but it was all for naught as she continued to twist and pinch his ear while babbling out how he could not have told her this any easier, how he was an inconsiderate sot for thinking she couldn't handle the truth and to stop squirming away, she was angry at him and would have her pound of flesh.

Finally, though, she calmed down enough to let go and sigh, "So, Gohan, anything else you want to tell me? You're an alien prince from a far off planet that was destroyed by an evil tyrant? That you have saved the world from said evil tyrant before you were in grade school? Oh, how about that it was YOU who defeated Cell?"

Gohan looked at Erasa and, for the first time, wondered if she was telepathic – sure, the first one was Vegeta, and the planet had been Namek that Freeza had been on, and he had only helped…

"Not bad." He looked over at the same time that Erasa did and saw Piccolo standing in the doorway, smirking at the both of them, "Though I have to ask, what would your mother would say if she happened to find out about this, Gohan?"

Gohan shot his sensei a glare that would have killed a normal human, but as Piccolo wasn't human, let alone normal, he shrugged it off, "How long have you been there, Piccolo?"

"A few seconds, kid. So, you starting to tell her the truth now?" Erasa looked at the tall, green teacher as he walked into the room and smirked at her friend, "ALL of the truth?"

Gohan, for his part, was still glaring at the teacher, "Only what I think she can handle right now, Piccolo."

She snapped her head to the side and made to grab his ear again… but Gohan vanished, only to reappear behind Piccolo-sensei, and this made her falter. How… "Gohan… h-how…?"

Gohan rubbed his offended ear gingerly, "Well, that's part of what I wanted to tell you, the truth behind my training and some of what I can do."


	8. Chapter 8 revised

Chapter 7

Again, Erasa awoke to the smell of good things, but there was something else now – she was being carried by someone, someone strong, "Huh?"

Gohan looked down with a smile, "Oh, you're awake already."

"Gohan? What happened?"

He grinned at her wryly, "You passed out again, Erasa. You know, this is going to take forever if you keep doing that."

Erasa blinked a few times and then smiled a little as it came back to her, "Sorry, but it's a lot to take in." She stopped smiling after a second and realized something – she wasn't hearing any footsteps. She looked down and saw the floor directly below them… twenty feet below them, "Gohan!"

He gave her a rather cute little boy grin, "Yes, Erasa?"

She didn't care as she started to go into complete freak-out mode, "WHYAREWETWENTYFEETABOVETHEGROUNDANDHOWAREYOUDOINGTHAT?"

He gave her a very serious look and deadpanned, "I'm controlling my ki and using it to keep us both off of the ground. Observe as we go up a little more," they increased their elevation by ten feet, which she shrieked at, "left and right," they moved, "and finally down." After a few seconds, they were on the ground and Gohan was releasing her, "There, we're all safe."

Erasa stood shakily, one of her hands with a death grip of Gohan's arm while the other one waved erratically above, behind and around him, looking and feeling for the wires that had just been used…and no finding them, "How…"

Gohan gently walked her over to a padded bench and sat her down, "That's part of what I wanted to talk to you about. As a true martial artist, you learn about not only fighting, but how to control your ki, the energy created by your body and soul, and with that control you can do great things – they can be terrible, yes, but great things none the less."

Erasa shot him a glare, "Hey, I've read Harry Potter, too, so don't snow me." He gave her a sheepish grin and she calmed down, "So… you can do things like Cell?"

She saw him wince a bit but nod, "Yes, I can. Anyone, with enough and the correct training, can do things like that."

"Then why aren't there dozens, hundred, no, THOUSANDS of people who can do that?"

Gohan shrugged, "Simple answer is that very few are patient enough in this day and age to learn how to do this kind of stuff." He held up his hand, palm up and flat, and a ball of blue energy appeared above it, "It took me over six months to even get my ki to appear when I wanted it to, rather than when I needed it, and it's taken me this long to do it without having to get angry. Lots of meditation, hours upon hours of it and martial arts practice, which left little time for friends or a social life."

Erasa nodded, she could understand the reasoning, sorta, "Okay, but why are you showing me this?"

He shrugged, "Well, for one, I think you can keep a secret, and two… you wanted answers, and this is part of it." She smiled at this but he held up a hand, "Not all of it, mind you, that will take time to explain and I think you have enough to think about now, but we'll get to it… if you want."

Erasa nodded eagerly, "Yeah, I do!" She then calmed down, "Gohan… do you really know Kami? I mean, I know a lot of people who talk to him, supposedly, but…"

Gohan snickered, "That was the first hurdle he had to get over, Erasa. Dende… well, he's not from around these parts, so he had to get over the amount of people talking to him first… well, talking, screaming at him, crying out his name in the depths of passion, that kind of stuff."

Erasa blushed at that, "Oh my."

Gohan nodded, "Yeah, that's what he said when the adult film stars started reaching his ears. I think he's learned to tune it out."

Erasa blushed even more, "I'd like to think he has." She looked around at the place they were at and suddenly realized just how beautiful it was, "This place is… gorgeous."

"Thank you. Mr. Popo puts a lot of work into it." She turned and saw a small green man, dressed in white and brown robes, carrying a staff in his hands, standing next to a pillar, just beside Mr. Piccolo. He was cute, in a young kind of way, and his antennae twitched slightly as he approached, "You must be Erasa."

Erasa blinked a few times before she shot to her feet and bowed deeply and repeatedly to the Kami, "Hail, Kami!" She did it so much that she got dizzy, so much so that when she finally stopped, the world spun and she started to fall back, but she was stopped by the chest of Gohan, who wrapped his arms around her… and boy did that feel nice.

The little green man next to the not-so-little green man snickered a little, "Please, call me Dende, and there is no need for the dramatics. According to Piccolo, I'm quite laid back in my approach to things."

"That's because you're still learning," Piccolo growled even as he eyed Gohan and Erasa with a bemused look. The girl looked like she was enjoying the fact that Gohan had not let go and Gohan appeared to have not noticed her joy or that he hadn't let go yet, "Come on, Gohan. We need to train, so let Dende talk to Erasa."

Gohan nodded and let her go, which caused a moment of displeasure to flash through Erasa's mind and over her face, "Be careful with her, Dende. She's kinda new at this."

Erasa looked at Gohan as he left and then turned back to Kami… Dende, "Is he going to be okay?"

Dende nodded, "Don't worry, Gohan won't hurt Piccolo that much." Erasa blinked at this and followed him as he motioned to her, "So, Erasa, tell me about what you think of Gohan…"

(Elsewhere)

Eighteen frowned as she approached the Tower at a high rate of speed – why in the nine hells would Erasa be there?

She banished those thoughts from her mind as she saw two figures standing in a position that told her they were about to spar and she dove at them, screaming, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY NIECE?"

AN: Alright, there's the set-up. Next part, sadly, will be delayed – reviews, please.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8

Gohan squared off against Piccolo with a grin, rolling his shoulders a little, "So, how far do you want to take this, Piccolo?"

Piccolo grinned at him as he took off his turban and cape, "Let's keep it low-level, given that Erasa is here. When you tell her the truth, THEN we'll go all-out."

Gohan smirked as he took up his stance, "You just want to put off me beating you badly in front of her."

Piccolo grinned savagely as he also took up his stance, "In your dreams, half-pint."

Gohan was ready to launch into a probing attack when he heard a scream of, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY NIECE?" He looked up in time to see a blonde-haired missile diving at him and then saw nothing but stars as it slammed into him, throwing him through the air and into the building that both Erasa and Dende had wandered into.

Piccolo didn't spare Gohan a second look, knowing that he'd be okay as he glared at the android, "You have a lot of nerve coming here, android. What do you want?"

Android Eighteen glared at him, "I want my niece back, you asexual pixie, and I want her back NOW!"

Piccolo grunted and shook his head even as both Dende and Erasa poked their head out of the building, "She can leave here when she wants, all she has to do is ask, but coming in here and attacking us like this is NOT the way to get answers."

Eighteen fumed for a moment before she looked over and saw Erasa, "Are you okay?"

Her niece scowled at her, "I was until you sent Gohan through the wall and scared me and Dende half to death!"

Eighteen was about to say something when her power scanner suddenly went haywire and she saw that not only was Gohan awake, but he was also in a rather bad mood, "Come here, Erasa, we're leaving."

Piccolo opened his mouth to say something but was stopped as Gohan appeared in front of Android Eighteen, his hips about head high, and his foot launching out towards the android's face. It connected with a solid, if meaty, sound and Android Eighteen's body went sailing through the air even as Gohan landed. The kid looked like he'd been sent through a wall, given the way his clothes were dusty, torn and a few scrapes and cuts on his skin oozed blood, but most of all Piccolo could see the shots of golden energy that were occasionally sparking around him, "Kid? You okay?"

"Fine, Piccolo," Gohan growled even as he saw Eighteen slow to a stop and glare at him.

Eighteen slowly approached, her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched in an angry, but non-aggressive manner, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get my makeup right?"

Gohan didn't even blink, "Do you realize how little I care? Why are you here?"

Eighteen huffed, "That is none of your concern."

Gohan powered up to just before his transformation point, his battle aura flaring, "I'm making it my concern."

Erasa took that point to storm over between the pair and glared at Gohan, "Oh, stop that! Aunt Juu isn't going to hurt you." With that, she turned and glared at Android Eighteen, who was smirking, "And YOU! Why did you attack Gohan?"

The android woman stopped smirking, "Do you know who he is, Erasa? Do you know what he's capable of?"

Erasa matched her aunt glare for glare, "Well, I was just starting to get the story when you made your GRAND entrance. That said, Gohan's my friend – don't attack him." That said, she turned back around and glared at a now-smirking Gohan and Piccolo, "And you two, DO NOT ATTACK HER! She's my aunt." Gohan and Piccolo both rubbed their ears, both muttering something about 'Chi-chi' and 'frying pans' as they nodded, so Erasa nodded, "Good."

Off to the side, Dende sighed – this was surreal, even for him and the Z warriors. And he was an alien to boot!

(Later)

More even-tempered heads had prevailed and the impending brawl was stopped in that Erasa, Popo and Dende had both managed to get Eighteen, Gohan and Piccolo, respectively, to calm down enough to at least talk. Now, they sat in a cool room with refreshments around them – Piccolo sat next to Dende and Popo, Erasa next to Eighteen, and Eighteen across from Gohan, who sat alone and whom was in a glaring contest with Eighteen.

Erasa broke the ice, "So, Aunt Juu, how did you find me?"

Eighteen glared at her niece, "How many times do I have to tell you to not call me that?"

Erasa played the 'dumb blonde' card to the hilt by looking up and pretending to think as her finger rested on her chin, "Um, one more time?"

Gohan snickered and Eighteen glared at him, "I'm here because HE," she shot a glare that would have killed most men, but one that Gohan cheerfully ignored, "brought you here in a manner that activated the tracking device that I have in your earrings."

Erasa glared at the android, "You… you low-jacked me?"

Eighteen shrugged, "Essentially, yes." She glared at Gohan one last time before she looked back at Erasa, "I take it that this is the young man, the 'Gohan', that you were talking to me about?"

Erasa blushed even as the three 'males' in the room that were not Gohan arched an eyebrow at her and smirked while Gohan merely arched an eyebrow, "Well, yes."

Eighteen nodded, "Well, I suppose that you could have chosen a less worthy mate."

Erasa exploded into a blush, "MATE! He's my FRIEND!"

Eighteen didn't even look fazed at it, "Your bio-signs are eratic when you speak about him, you deny any and all relationship-like qualities to your supposed 'friendship' with him and, right now, you are acting as if I had told them you were not a natural blonde."

Erasa stopped blushing, "I am TOO a blonde!"

Eighteen held out her hand, "I know, but as I said, you were acting… irrationally."

Erasa growled, "Was not." She then looked at Gohan, who had a blank look on his face, "Gohan?"

Nothing.

"Gohan?" She crawled over and waved her hand in front of his face, "You in there?" She snapped a few times.

Nothing, which got a smirk out of Eighteen.

Piccolo sighed and fired a low-level ki blasts at Gohan, singeing him slightly, "Snap out of it, kid."

Gohan shook himself off, "Huh? What?" He looked and saw Erasa's face not two inches from his own and jerked back, "Gah!"

Erasa pulled back, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. Mind shut down for a second there…"

This made Eighteen grin a little evilly, "What's the matter, Gohan? Not used to someone saying that about you?"

Gohan, obviously not in full control of his mental faculties yet, shook his head, "No, not really. Outside of mom, Bulma, Mrs. Briefs and Lime, I don't have a whole lot of contact with females."

Eighteen stopped grinning, "How… pathetic."

Gohan shot her a glare, "Well, sorry about that little let-down. I've only been helping saving or actually saving the damned world since I was four, which leaves very little time for social interactions."

Both Eighteen and Erasa blinked at this as Piccolo groaned, "Smooth, Gohan. Very smooth."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9

Erasa looked at Gohan for several second before she looked at her aunt, who looked similarly stunned, and she then looked at Dende, "Is he lying?"

Dende shrugged, "Well, not that I know of. I only met him a few years ago, and from what I've heard, he's been at this most of his life."

Erasa wasn't satisfied with that so she glared at the green kami, "What kind of stuff could he have been fighting at FOUR?"

It was Piccolo who responded, "He was five when he fought them, first of all, four is when he started training, and you have one of the people he fought as a teacher."

It was Gohan's turn to groan, "Smooth, Piccolo, really smooth."

Eighteen looked first at Gohan, then at Piccolo, before she turned to the one other person in the room that seemed to be in on this, "You, genie-boy, what's going on?"

The dark-skinned man frowned at her, "My name is Mr. Popo, and it is a long and often confusing story to tell. There is an easier way to do so, if you are willing to follow me."

Erasa was right behind him, Eighteen right behind her, and Dende was behind the three of them while Gohan and Piccolo both stayed where they were, both of them now in a meditative position and probably mind fighting from Dende's assessment, and the four of them went down to a chamber that was rarely used anymore.

It had a large pendulum swinging from the ceiling, and had a large clock face-like design on the floor, and Mr. Popo waved at the black walls, "Welcome to the Room of Time. In this room, we can watch any time that has passed here on Earth or anywhere else within this universe."

Erasa blinked. Cool!

Eighteen frowned. This was… disturbing, "How very voyeuristic of you."

Dende arched an eyebrow, "Funny, Gohan said the same thing when we showed him this." He turned to Mr. Popo, "What does that mean, anyway?"

The dark-skinned genie flushed even as Erasa blushed and Eighteen smirked, "Um… ask Piccolo when you are older, Dende. Now, as I was saying, we can look at any time in the past and watch events as they unfold…"

(Later)

Gohan opened his eyes and grinned a little as Piccolo opened his eyes and snorted, "I almost had you there, Piccolo."

The Namek chuckled darkly, "Keep thinking that, Gohan, and one day it might even be true. You may be able to beat me in a physical fight, but I still have you when it comes to mind-fighting."

Gohan nodded and stood, stretching out a bit as he looked around, "Hey, where are the others?"

As if in answer to that question, Erasa came storming out of the room that Dende and Mr. Popo had taken them into, and for an instant Gohan was SURE that he was going to be slapped, beaten, mangled or possibly made to eat Bulma's cooking, but Erasa stopped short of him as Eighteen showed up just behind her, "Is it true?"

Gohan arched an eyebrow at her, "Is what true? You need to learn to be specific with me, Erasa."

She glared at him even as both Piccolo snickered and Eighteen smirked, "Is what we saw in that funny room true?"

Gohan shrugged, SURE he was going to get hit for this statement, "I don't know, because I don't know what you-" Erasa lashed out and smacked him on the cheek, "Ow!"

Erasa shook out her hand, "Did you or did you not fight Aunt Juu?"

"Don't call me that, Erasa," Eighteen absently said as she scanned both her niece and Gohan. It was amusing to see her niece trying to deny what she knew to be true, then again humans in general were fun to watch and were high entertainment.

Gohan looked at Dende with an arched eyebrow again, "What exactly did you show her?"

The little green Kami shrugged with a chuckle, "Well, think of it as a… highlight reel, Gohan. Nothing TOO specific, but just a brief overview and one of them MIGHT have happened to contain your fight with Android Eighteen."

Gohan shook his head, "It wasn't a fight – she had me dead to rights and never took the shot." He looked at Eighteen, "Why is that?"

Eighteen looked at him and deadpanned, "Because I thought you were cute and wanted you to live long enough for us to date."

Dead silence reigned in the local area as Gohan's jaw dropped, Erasa alternately flushed, gaped, glared and sputtered, Piccolo and Dende arched an eyebrow at the Android and Mr. Popo sighed and shook his head.

Eighteen looked at Gohan, "Hey, kid?"

"Huh?"

"Gotcha." There, let THAT prove she had a sense of humor…

AN: Sorry, folks, I know it's been a while and this one seems a little weird, but my muse seems to have gone MIA on this one. I hate to say it, but this one may go up for adoption. Reviews, please.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 10

AN: In an effort to hopefully wrap this story up (and provoke something from my muse), here we go … again.

AN2: I'm jumping time here again for two reasons – one, I suck at fight scenes (drawn out ones) and two, I want to finish the story.

(WMAT stadium)

Time seemed to blur for Erasa over the next few weeks – she spent every day she could around Gohan, learning things while he sparred with an array of people that went from Piccolo to the Bandit, from PRINCE (and BOY had that been a revelation) Vegeta to Krillen, and even her Aunt Juu, and just when she thought that she had seen just about everything, he and Vegeta both went 'Super Saiyan'.

'Well, at least he makes a cute blonde,' was the first thing that came to mind, but that thought vanished as both Vegeta and Gohan also vanished, moving too fast for her eyes to see. 'Holy crap,' was the second thing that went through her mind.

During those spars, Gohan had shown to her that, indeed, he wasn't normal, and that what she had learned in school and from television about the 'fake' martial artists was all true… well, most of it… but what had taken her aback the most was when her aunt and Gohan had finally stopped all of the pretenses and had started REALLY fighting. It was… it was the Cell Games all over again in her mind – the destruction those two brought about to the surrounding desert No quarter was given, none was asked for, and just when it appeared that one had the other at the end game, the tables flipped and the aggressor became the defender. Still, through the entire ordeal Erasa had been able to almost sense a… camaraderie between the group, as if they knew that at the end of the day, they would be friends once again.

Now, though, as she sat no ten feet away from Gohan in the waiting area, the feeling was more tense, more… lethal; she had watched the opening matches, matches that had men easily three times Gohan's age across from him, and it had gone quickly with the half-Saiyan male not wasting any time on 'the weaklings'. Hercule's matches had gone quickly as well, but generally with the 'World Savior' resorting to old and potentially dirty tricks and technicalities to win his matches. It was clear in her mind, though, that with every victory the pair got closer and both of them got more anxious.

Gohan, himself, centered himself as he idly ran his hand over the light bruise that had formed on his forearm after his last fight – Tien had, surprisingly, shown up to fight for the grand prize money and had tried his best to win, but in the end the three-eyed man hadn't been able to get past the fact that he was only human.

'Only human? YOU are also human, Gohan.'

Gohan sighed – Goku, again, 'Half human, technically.'

'You sound like Vegeta, like that's some how a disability.'

Gohan snorted as he heard the call for the next match, 'You make it sound like at times it is not.' He stood and stretched in place, 'Pride is not a bad thing to have.'

'Pride is what got me killed,' Goku told him bluntly.

Gohan didn't even flinch, 'I'm not going there with you.' He looked at Erasa, who was now fidgeting, "I'll be back in a few minutes, Erasa – this shouldn't take too long."

The blonde girl looked up at him and, for a moment, seemed to hesitate before she stood up and glomped him, wrapping her arms and legs around and squeezing tightly, "Be careful, Gohan. He's cheating."

Fighting back a blush as he heard Krillen, Vegeta, Piccolo and Yamcha snickering, he whispered back, "So am I, technically."

Again Erasa hesitated before she pecked him on the cheek, "Just be careful, alright?" She hopped down at that point and fled off to where Eighteen was sitting, blushing a bright red.

Gohan blushed himself as Krillen walked over and elbowed him in the side, "So, bro, when's the wedding?"

Yamcha wasn't far behind, "Glad to see that some of my lessons with women finally paid off, kiddo. You're a smooth operator, just like me."

Krillen snorted, "I'm sure Bulma might refute that."

Vegeta walked forwards, ignoring both of the humans and their silly comments, "Brat… Gohan, remember that this is for not only yourself, but for the Saiyan people. Lose and you will dishonor your people."

"Right, no pressure, then," Gohan muttered as he stepped out into the stadium of people.

(Ringside)

When he'd seen the name of the competitor, he KNEW that things were going to be interesting – the son of Goku was at the WMAT, in HIS arena, fighting for the championship against Hercule, the man that, arguably, was the biggest loud-mouth on the planet. Still, as both made their way through the ranks of fighters, he'd seen the growing worry in Hercule's eyes as Gohan shredded the competition, just as he'd seen the growing, if chilling, smile that Gohan had worn at the end of each fight.

The Announcer had no doubt in his mind – this was probably going to be a blood bath… and one HELL of a money-maker, "Ladies and gentlemen, the moment we've waited for is HERE!" The crowd roared on-cue and he let it die down for a second before he spoke again, "In this the final match of the Tournament, we have Hercule Satan, the Savior of the World-" again the crowd roared, but there were also a surprisingly large number of boos and calls of 'fraud', "- and Gohan Son, son of Goku Son, former champion and an upcoming star in the World Martial Arts community!" THIS got a roar out of the crowd, but also a bunch of screams from the younger ladies in the crowd, with more than a few cries of 'Marry me!', which got a cry of, 'Grandbabies!' out of the box that held Gohan's mother.

Hercule walked out first, dressed in his brown gi with a black belt, his afro swaying slightly in the wind as a gust suddenly came down, and he looked surprisingly serious as he began to stretch lightly. He had to admit that, while he personally detested the man, he thought that Hercule hadn't looked this good in a while, he had to keep an objective voice and call it like it was. Still, though, he privately hoped if his bet of ten thousand yen on Gohan would pay off…

Gohan walked out at this point onto the field and he had, apparently, changed – earlier, he had been wearing a black rendition of the Turtle-style gi, much like the one his father had worn, but now that was replaced by a dark blue jumper with a red sash, wrist bands and brown slipper-like shoes… hey, that looked… nah, couldn't be.

"Fighters to the ring, please." Both men stepped up onto the flat surface, a sixty-four by sixty-four and he went on, "Now, ladies and gentlemen, I must warn you that what we are about to see could be quite brutal, but I must also remind both of the contestants that if you kill your opponent or are caught cheating, you are immediately disqualified."

"I have no problems with his cheating," Gohan called out from his side of the ring, never taking his eyes off of Hercule.

Hercule posed a few times, as if trying to intimidate the boy, "I don't need to cheat to beat a punk like you!"

"So you admit that you've cheated?"

"Um… well, no, I haven't! They were all felled by my superior skill!"

There was a collective snort in the entire stadium.

The Announcer raised his hand and said, "Are you ready?" Before either could give an answer, he dropped his hand, "Fight!"

Gohan walked forwards, no, he didn't walk – he sauntered, STROLLED forwards in the general direction of Hercule as if there was absolutely nothing of interest over there and he was out for a little fresh air. His entire posture was lax, seemingly at ease, except for his eyes – they were hard, a very hard onyx color that drilled into the soul of his opponent and could and would cause fear.

Hercule, for his part, sweated as he watched the youngster walk towards him with a gait that told him, no, the kid was NOT going to go easy on him – he saw right through the attempt at a leisurely stroll, and he knew that unless he did something fast, he was not going to win the title. Sadly, when the day had started, he'd been told with the rest of them that only a victory could win the title, not a disqualification or forfeit, so that had kept him from poisoning the others.

"KILL HIM, DADDY!" He looked over where his daughter was, her nose still bandaged from the last surgery that she'd undergone to fix it, and felt heartened that his little girl was there to cheer him on.

"FEED HIM HIS SPLEEN, GOHAN!" Gohan smirked slightly as he heard someone, Yamcha, he guessed, yell out 'encouragement' from the stands and saw Hercule shiver in place even more. Yes, go for the fear… just like Vegeta had told him.

With a roar, Hercule launched himself at Gohan, his fists swinging haymakers, hoping to catch the punk off-guard, but it didn't work as Gohan disappeared, only to reappear behind the large man and slam his foot into the upper part of Hercule's back, sending him flying to the other side of the ring.

"OH! Gohan's pulled a nasty surprise out of his repertoire that sends Hercule flying through the air, crashing and burning on the ground!"

Hercule shook the stars out of his vision as he stood up and looked back at the punk while the Announcer sang his praises – 'time to even the odds' he thought as he reached into his gi and grabbed a small handful of salt.

Gohan arched an eyebrow as Hercule got to his feet again and charged him, but his eyes widened slightly as Hercule threw out a fist full of something directly at his face. Not thinking, he quickly jumped into the air, over the cloud of white crystals, over Hercule, and hung in the middle of the air while the man sailed through said cloud.

"And it appears that Hercule has something in his eyes! Something that he himself might have thrown – this is going to the judges."

Hercule pawed at his eyes to get rid of the salt he'd thrown himself and had been hopeful would put the pup out of it long enough for him to pick up a quick win, but his ears told him that things were not going as well as he hoped.

"Nice try, but not good enough," he hear from above him, and when he opened his eyes, all Hercule could see was a blurry form from the tears. The next thing he saw, though, was stars as something hit him in the jaw, hard, and then a blurry blue sky until he hit the ground and started rolling.

Gohan watched as the temporarily blinded jerk rolled across the tiles until, finally, he ran out of room and rolled out onto the ground. Honestly, he had expected to feel SOMETHING other than nothing when he finally won, but that is all he felt right now – nothing. It was… anticlimactic.

(Later)

Hercule was protesting, loudly, that, no, he had NOT cheated, that Gohan had, about this, about that, and about the other thing, but the replays showed everything and, as such, he was disqualified. THIS comment from the Announcer, though, had upset more than a few people as it meant that Gohan had NOT won the title – the most vocal of the protestors had been Chi-Chi, and not far behind her was Erasa, but honestly, he didn't care.

Gohan sat in the now-empty stands, hours later, and looked out at the ring with a troubled look – he couldn't explain why he felt so cheated, and he was sure that if he asked, he wouldn't have liked the answer.

The vague scent of perfume behind him was all the warning he got before Eighteen spoke, "You're upset."

He nodded absently as she sat down next to him – it was odd, really, that a woman who had done her best to kill him, directly and indirectly as Cell, was one of the few people that he could talk with nine times out of ten and actually feel better with.

Next to the half-Saiyan, Eighteen looked at him and then looked out at the ring, "What is the matter?"

He looked at her with an amused look on his face, "You are asking about the emotions of a 'fleshy'?"

Eighteen had the good grace to blush – not long ago she had told both Erasa and Gohan that she didn't care about the 'feelings' and 'emotions' of 'Fleshy' beings, that their personal survival had precedence over their feelings and such, and now she was being called on it, "People and beings can change, Gohan, and you and Erasa… have changed me."

He smirked slightly, "So we're melting the Ice Queen?"

Eighteen shot him a look, "Never."

From behind them was another snort, "Please, you're just a puddle of water between us, Aunt Juu." Erasa sits down on the other side of Gohan and looks over at her, "Of course, between us, Gohan's putty."

"Am not," Gohan groused slightly even as Eighteen smirked.

Eighteen pulled him into a side-armed hug meant to fluster him, "You know that between Erasa and I, we can get you to do anything, Gohan."

Gohan smirked at this, looked over at Erasa, winked, and put his arm around Eighteen's waist, pulling her into his side even closer, "Come on, Juu, you know I only have eyes for you."

The android sputtered and blushed brightly for several seconds before Erasa finally couldn't hold it in any longer and let out long gales of laughter, laughing so hard she fell over into Gohan's lap and held her stomach, "Priceless!" What she was too busy laughing to notice, though, was that neither Gohan nor Eighteen had removed their arm from around the other…

(Elsewhere)

Dende looked down at the scene below him and snickered – what fun this was going to be…

AN: Alright, that's it! Finished! Finito! Done! BAM! …sorry, too much Food TV. Reviews, please.

THE END!


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